


Runaway Schrodinger

by AgentMaryMargaretSkitz, IncendiaGlacies



Series: The Roommates AU [8]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Hospitals, Runaway Cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 08:25:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13807353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentMaryMargaretSkitz/pseuds/AgentMaryMargaretSkitz, https://archiveofourown.org/users/IncendiaGlacies/pseuds/IncendiaGlacies
Summary: Direct continuation of 'The Future is Female'. The girls go in search of Schrodinger after he escapes the apartment.





	Runaway Schrodinger

**Author's Note:**

> We're baaack!
> 
> I've been meaning to get this written and posted much sooner, but classes have been stressful, I got wrapped up in another AU, and I've had some health issues to deal with.
> 
> But fortunately, I managed to get this written and now I can start on the next one later.

Lily and Caitlin exited the building, the former wringing her hands together.

“What are we going to do if we can’t find him?” Lily asked nervously.

“I don’t know, but I’d rather that than finding Schrodinger flattened on the road,” Caitlin sighed as they started scanning the street. “He’s so little, but he’s also black and white and he could just blend into the road.”

“Positive thoughts, Caitlin,” Lily begged, peering into a trash can. “Please, I don’t want to think about the worst. Schrödinger? Schrodinger?”

Caitlin shook her head. “The sides on there are way too smooth. He couldn’t have climbed up them. There’s no way he would have wound up in there.”

“I just want to cover all possibilities! What if-”

“Shhhh!”

“Don’t tell me to shush! This is a crisis. I am allowed to worry about our cat and his wellbeing.”

“No, listen!” Caitlin hissed. “Can you hear that?”

               Lily fell silent and followed Caitlin’s instructions. It took a moment, but she could hear it. A faint sound of frantic mewing was coming from somewhere. She slowly looked around before her eyes settled across the street. In the park beside Ray’s building, one of the tree branches was shaking and a little girl was pointing up at it.

“Well, at least he got across the street in one piece,” Lily shrugged. “Didn’t expect him to climb the tree though.”

“Nope,” Caitlin agreed. “We need to go and get him down though. Come on, let’s go.”

               The two scientists ran across over to the park and unlatched the gate. At the tree, the little girl was gone now, but the meowing was somewhat louder. Looking up between the leaves, the two roommates could see a bit of black among the rustling of the leaves. It had to be Schrodinger.

“So, have you ever climbed a tree before?” Caitlin asked, eying the tall tree.

Lily shook her head. “No way. Never wanted to.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Caitlin lamented. “Well, I guess we’re going to have to call someone to rescue our cat from a tree.”

“Or we could go inside and ask for a favor?” Lily suggested. “Ray lives here, after all. He’s tall and pretty strong. Maybe he’s climbed a tree before and can help us get Schrodinger down?”

Caitlin considered it for a moment before smiling and nodding. “That could work. You go in and you can ask him.”

“Wait, why am I the one asking?” Lily frowned. “Not that I have a problem with doing that or anything, but why me? What about you?”

“Someone has to stay here with Schrodinger,” she explained. “Besides, if you ask Ray, then he’ll definitely say yes.”

“Okay, sure, I’ll go,” Lily glanced up at the tree. “Don’t worry, Schrodinger. We’ll get you down!”

“Meow!”

“I’ll be right back, Caitlin. Just make sure he stays and doesn’t jump down.”

“I won’t,” she promised as her friend began to run towards the building’s entrance.

“And maybe you can ask Ray on a date while you’re at it,” she mumbled on her breath once Lily was out of earshot.

* * *

 

“Here, kitty, kitty, kitty,” Felicity called out, waving the tin of cat food in front of her. “Yummy, yummy!”

               No skittering of paws came anywhere around her. Felicity stood back up from where she was crawling around on her hands and knees and sighed.  She had been on two different floors trying to find her cat. Almost all of the excitement from earlier about a female Doctor had gone out of the window since Schrodinger had gotten loose. Sure, she was still elated though. Finally, another woman kicking ass in time and space. Who couldn’t love that, excluding the man babies…

               Felicity shook her head, reminding herself to focus. Schrodinger was the priority. Then she could go back to fangirling out with her girls. Slowly, she climbed the stairs until she reached the roof of the building. The door didn’t shut right sometimes, so maybe Schrodinger had gotten stuck up here. Someone might have already checked this part, but a second look wouldn’t do any harm.

               Unfortunately, she came across nothing that indicated Schrodinger had ever been up there. Felicity shook her head and gazed over the ledge at the street beneath her. Across the building, she spotted Caitlin standing under a tree while Lily raced towards the entrance of Ray’s building. Pulling out her phone, she called Caitlin. Down below, Caitlin frowned and reached into her pocket.

“Hey, Felicity,” she answered. “How’s it on your end?”

“No sign of our kitty,” Felicity replied. “Hey, how come you’re standing under a tree while Lily’s running into Ray’s building like she’s about to-”

“Wait, how do you know that?” Caitlin interrupted.

“Just look up and across the street.”

The small figure of her roommate followed her instructions before waving few moments later. Felicity waved back down at her.

“You really had me freaked out for a second there,” Caitlin told her.

“Sorry about that,” Felicity apologized. “Couldn’t help myself. So what are you doing under a tree? You’re lucky it’s not the one that the crows always nest in.”

“I hear that,” Caitlin agreed. “I think I’ve found Schrodinger though. He’s up in a tree. Lily’s running in to see if Ray will climb it to get him out since neither of us have climbed a tree before. Or ever.”

“Good plan and a good move sending Lily. Ray won’t say no to her if she asks him to free Schrodinger.”

“Great minds think alike, Felicity.”

She giggled. “What are the odds she asks him on a date?”

“Unlikely, but we can only hope.”

* * *

 

“Ray?” Lily knocked on the door. “Ray? Are you home?”

“Coming!”

               The door swung open as she shifted from foot to foot. When she looked back up, her eyes widened, and she exhaled slowly. Ray was standing in the doorway, wearing a tank top and a thousand-watt smile. For a moment, all her brain could think was ‘arm’ before she remembered why she’d come. Besides, she’s known him for years and seen him like this before. She needed to focus.

“Lily!” Ray beamed at her. “What are you doing here?”

Words found their way from her brain to her mouth. “Hey, Ray. This isn’t a bad time, is it?”

“No,” he shook his head. “Just been having a lazy morning, watched the reveal of the new Doctor. Is everything okay?”

Lily shook her head. “Not exactly. Schrodinger got freaked out by our celebration and bolted out the apartment door that was open. We’ve all been looking for him since. Cait and I might have found him outside of your building up in a tree. He’s pretty high up in the branches and neither of us have climbed a tree before. I was wondering since you’re pretty tall, is there a way you can help us get him-”

Ray’s eyebrows went up. “Wait, Schrodinger’s missing?”

“Yeah,” Lily nodded. “But he might be in that tree. We’re pretty sure it’s him. Have you ever climbed a tree before?”

“A couple times. Want me to climb up and get him down?”

“Yeah,” Lily nodded. “I owe you one for this.”

“Nah, you don’t have to worry about it,” he replied as he grabbed his keys and shut the door. “I’m always happy to help you out.”

She hugged him quickly. “Oh, thank you so much!”

“Thank me after I’ve rescued Schrodinger.”

“I’ll thank you both times.”

* * *

 

“Schrodinger?” Gideon called as Rip followed behind her. “Schrodinger? Are you down here?”

“Schrodinger?” Rip echoed, shaking one of the cat toys that Gideon had brought at the entrance of the basement storage. “Are you sure he’s down there?”

“I don’t know where else to look,” Gideon shrugged, staring into the darkness ahead of them. “This is the last place we need to look. Makes me wish I’d brought a flashlight.”

“No need,” Rip reached out and fumbled along the wall until his fingers found the switch. “There’s a light switch.”

“That’s fortunate.”

               Rip nodded and flipped the switch upwards. Light sputtered to life in the space. For a few brief moments, it looked like it was going to hold. Then most of the bulbs died out almost at once. Only two bulbs remained amongst them, giving an eerie feel to the darkness of the room before Rip and Gideon.

“So much for that,” Gideon sighed as they started to step into the darkness.

“Hold my hand,” Rip murmured, brushing his fingers by hers.

“I’m not afraid,” she insisted, although she still took it anyways.

“I am,” he admitted. “It’s always creepy whenever I’ve been down here.”

“I don’t know when I was last down here,” Gideon admitted. “But I have to agree with you. It’s dark and dusty down here. If Schrodinger is really down here, he’s going to be covered in cobwebs and dust bunnies.”

Rip grimaced in sympathy. “Schrodinger?”

“Schrodinger?” Gideon called out. “Come out, come out wherever you are.”

“Will that even work?” Rip worked, pulling out his keychain. He was certain he’d put a small flashlight on it at one point.

               As soon as he’d said that, a mew came out of the darkness. Rip found the light and shined it in the direction of the noise. Schrodinger’s white patches of fur were visible in the space between two cardboard boxes. Cobwebs were clinging to his whiskers as he glanced up at the two humans.

“Schrodinger!” Gideon cried out happily, bending down and holding out her arms. “Come on, come out of there.”

The cat padded out from his hiding place and into Gideon’s arms. She smiled happily and cuddled him for a moment, not paying any mind at all to the dust and cobwebs coating his body, despite her griping about them moments ago.

“Well, mission accomplished,” Rip sighed in relief. “Shall we head back upstairs?”

Gideon nodded as she rose to her feet with the cat. “Might as well unless you’re interested in staying down here any longer.”

“Not particularly, no.”

“Then let’s head back upstairs,” Gideon said, leading the way out with Schrodinger in her arms. “I’ll give the rest of the girls a call once we get back up. I can clean him up from there. Sorry that this took time out of your day, Rip.”

“Not a problem,” Rip shook his head as they climbed the stairs together. “Jonas and I only just got back. There’s nothing else planned for the rest of the day for the two of us.”

“Well, now you can enjoy the rest of the day with him instead of searching for a runaway cat.”

“I didn’t mind helping you,” Rip told her as they started on the stairs to their floor. “It doesn’t bother me at all. If anything, I rather enjoy spending time with you.”

Gideon smiled as they reached their doors. “That’s very sweet of you.”

Rip’s door opened, and Jonas stuck his head out. “Daddy, did you and Gideon find the kitty?”

“Yes,” Rip smiled, glancing over at Gideon. “He was hiding in the basement.”

“Ew,” Jonas wrinkled his nose. “It’s gross down there.”

“He’s not wrong,” Gideon agreed. “He’s going to need to get cleaned up if you ever want to play with him again.”

Jonas’s eyes widened at the thought of never being able to play with Schrodinger ever again.

“Don’t worry,” Rip assured him. “Next time we see the girls, you’ll be able to play with him.”

That seemed to make Jonas relax.

“Well, I’ll see you guys later,” Gideon said, unlocking the door to her apartment.

“GIDEON!”

               Rip whirled towards the staircase to see Lily come racing up the staircase. Her eyes were wider than Jonas’s had been a moment ago. She sounded like she was able to have a panic attack at any minute. Gideon stepped out of the way as Lily threw herself against the door and into the apartment. Rip walked up to stand beside Gideon as they watched her fumble through Caitlin’s purse.

“Lily, is everything okay?” Rip asked gently.

“No!” Lily wailed. “I need the car!”

“Why, what’s happened?” Gideon demanded.

“Ray fell out of a tree!”

Rip frowned. “How did he manage that?”

“It’s all my fault,” Lily groaned, finally finding the keys and then dashing towards her purse. “Caitlin and I thought we saw Schrodinger in a tree by Ray’s building and I went in to ask Ray for help. He started to climb the tree and it looked fine. Then he got to the cat, but it wasn’t Schrodinger. It was some little girl’s cat who got stuck.”

“Figures, because we found him in the basement,” Gideon said, lifting up the dusty cat. “Although he’s dirty now.”

“Oh thank goodness,” Lily hurried over and pressed a kiss to Schrodinger’s head, only to spit out a cobweb a moment later. “That was not a good decision. Oh yuck.”

“So I see,” Gideon murmured. “But why do you need the car.”

“Because when Ray was getting down with the cat, he kind of fell,” Lily told the two of them. “And his arm got impaled on a stick. Caitlin’s with him right now, but she told me that he needs a hospital and that I should go and get my stuff and get to the hospital with him. It’s all my fault!”

“Lily, breathe,” Rip instructed, noticing how close she was to hyperventilating. “He’s going to be okay.”

“I was the one who asked him to climb the tree though, Rip! How would you feel if Gideon had gotten hurt doing something you asked her to do?”

Rip swallowed. He didn’t want to picture that. If Gideon got hurt because of him, he could never forgive himself.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Now, I’m going to get Ray to the hospital and pray I did not just set events in motion that will kill the head of Palmer Tech.”

“He’s going to be fine!” Gideon insisted. “But you should really get going to the hospital if he did impale himself.”

“I know, I know,” Lily made sure she had the keys and her purse before running out. “I’ll call when I get there!”

“Okay,” Gideon shouted back as Lily scrambled down the stairs, then turned back to Rip. “So this day just got more eventful than I expected.”

“Seems like an understatement,” Rip shrugged. “Care for some help cleaning up Schrodinger?”

Gideon raised an eyebrow. “You realize what you’re asking to get into?”

“Fully.”

* * *

 

“We will get to you when we get to you!”

“Okay, okay!” Lily grumbled as she walked back to where Ray was holding his injured arm. “So no idea about how soon you’ll be able to see a doctor.”

“Eh, they have a lot of people to see,” Ray shrugged. “I can wait.”

“You feel out of a tree and got your arm impaled,” Lily reminded him, burying her head in her hands. “I am _so_ sorry. This is my fault.”

“I was the one who climbed the tree,” Ray replied. “I did it on my own will.”

“No, it was because I asked you,” she groaned.

Ray smiled at her. “Lily, I could have told you no. But you’re my friend. I was happy to help you. Besides, I would rather have gotten hurt instead of seeing you get injured.”

“I still feel guilty that you got hurt because I asked you to get a cat out of a tree who wasn’t Schrodinger,” Lily sighed.

“I’m looking at it as that little girl getting her cat back,” he shrugged. “Plus, you told me Gideon found Schrodinger. Everything’s fine in the end. All the cats are back to their rightful owners.”

“But we’re waiting in the emergency room because your arm was impaled,” Lily said.

Ray stood up from the chair and held out his good hand to her. “Come on.”

“We’re not leaving the hospital,” Lily warned. “If you try, I will find a way to drag you back.”

“Hey, even I know that I need some medical attention!” Ray insisted, pretending to be offended. “But you’re freaking out. Let’s just take a walk. It’ll calm us both down.”

Lily eyed him for a moment before nodding. “Okay. I’m just worried about you though. That’s why I’ve been freaking out.”

“It’s fine,” Ray told her. “Come on. I think there’s an art therapy gallery nearby. The nurses have my number, so they’ll call you when they’re ready for you.”

“Alright,” Lily nodded. “Let’s go see what the art gallery here has to offer.”

* * *

 

“Any news on Ray and Lily?” Felicity asked, taking a drink from her water glass before returning to tap out something on her laptop.

Caitlin nodded from where she was cuddling the now clean Schrodinger. “Lily called a while ago. Ray finally got called in to see a doctor. She sounds a lot calmer now. Apparently, they walked through an art gallery and got some lunch.”

“That’s sweet,” Gideon murmured. “I hope he’s going to be okay.”

“Me too,” Felicity agreed. “Could you have stitched him up there, or did he really have to go to the hospital.”

“He needed actual medical attention in a hospital,” Caitlin said. “The only reason I wouldn’t have sent him to the hospital was if the zombie apocalypse had broken out and it was quarantined off.”

Felicity blinked. “Okay then.”

“I assume you sent Lily with Ray though instead of taking him yourself,” Gideon said, flipping the page of her book. “They’ve got a lot of time together now that’s just the two of them.”

Caitlin shrugged. “Well, she did feel bad given she asked him to climb the tree. She was panicking so much she didn’t even think to ask me to come with them.”

Felicity stared at her in awe. “You evil genius.”

“That’s Gideon,” Caitlin corrected. “But no. I just didn’t have to say anything. Lily got herself into this all by herself. Maybe all this quality time she and Ray are spending together might make her see they both like each other.”

“Hmm,” Gideon mused. “Maybe. Although there’s only one thing that you’ve said that’s definitively accurate.”

“And what’s that?” Felicity asked.

Gideon grinned. “That I’m an evil genius.”

**Author's Note:**

> Had to add the evil genius line after last week's episode of Legends. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed this! We love reviews and kudos.


End file.
